Bilic gives West Ham update on key man ahead of Sunderland clash

Slaven Bilic has revealed that Andy Carroll’s recovery from an injury picked up during West Ham’s encounter with Astra Giurgiu is taking longer than expected, but he should be back in a “few weeks”.

The Hammers will face Sunderland at the London Stadium on Saturday, before a home EFL Cup clash against Chelsea on Wednesday and then they will travel to Everton the following Saturday.

In a press conference before the match, the West Ham boss as quoted by the club’s official Twitter account revealed that only Carroll and Cresswell would be missing from the encounter with the Black Cats.

SB: "@AndyTCarroll picked up the injury in Romania and I didn't notice he got injured. Originally we thought it would be four to six weeks.

Carroll, 27, has not featured for the Hammers since the Europe League clash in Romania in August.

He was a vocal part of the east London club’s attack before the injury, playing in four fixtures, but now with the addition of Simone Zaza he may find it more difficult to return to the starting line-up.

West Ham won their most recent league fixture 1-0 against Crystal Palace following a low start to the new Premier League campaign.

They currently sit in 15th place in the Premier League table with seven points from eight fixtures and they will see the clash against bottom placed Sunderland as the perfect opportunity to push on further.